Seattle cop who stomped on handcuffed man’s head cleared of wrongdoing

Despite the existence of video evidence clearly showing Seattle, Washington cop Garth Haynes stomping on the head of a handcuffed man during a 2010 ordeal, the officer was formally cleared of all misconduct this week.

Upon advisement of the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, the local
police department’s interim chief, Harry Bailey, said on Tuesday
that Haynes has been exonerated of his involvement in the Dec.
2010 incident.

Chief Bailey said that expert evidence presented to officials has
left him willing to accept the claim that Haynes “was
impaired by a concussion and not able to control his actions when
he stepped on the suspect’s head” outside of a Ballard, WA
bar three-and-a-half years ago.

The incident itself occurred on Dec. 12, 2012 when Haynes —
off-duty and out of uniform — intervened in what he believed to
have been a theft-in-progress.

Haynes believed a woman at the bar had tried to take his jacket,
Seattle City Attorney Peter S. Holmes acknowledged in a
memorandum filed with Chief Bailey’s office last week, then
flashed his badge and tried to resolve the matter while off the
clock.

“Bystanders became involved in the dispute which escalated to
a fistfight primarily involving Officer Haynes and three young
male assailants,” the memo continues. “SPD officers
responded to the scene, extricated Officer Haynes form the melee
and subdued the three suspects. As one of the suspects lay face
down in handcuffs, in-car video showed Officer Haynes press the
suspect’s head down with his foot before being led away by an
officer.”

Haynes was then taken to a local hospital and eventually charged
with assault, but was later acquitted in court.

"We went to trial with the evidence available at the time,
which included an in-car video that showed Officer Haynes
stepping on the head of a handcuffed man prone on the
ground," Kimberly Mills, a spokesperson for Holmes, told the
Seattle Times.

"It was unfortunate and sad it had to go all this way, and
all this time and money, but I'm glad it's finally over,”
Haynes told KIRO-TV when he was found not guilty 2012.

According to the network, the Seattle Police Union at one point
described the fight as a hate crime against Haynes, who is black,
carried out by white bar patrons. Charges against them were later
dropped.

"This was an officer that was beat up by three white
guys," longtime activist Harriett Walden, who sat through
the trial, told KIRO in 2012. "Did he make a poor judgment?
Yes, he did. Does he need to be fired for that? No, he shouldn't
be. He should be reprimanded and retrained like all the other
officers."

Indeed, the SPD issued a 10-day suspension without pay against
Hayes after he was found not guilty, but appealed that slap on
the wrist nevertheless. A city doctor would later file a report
saying “It is possible that the concussion could account for
Officer Haynes’ behavior in the immediate aftermath of the
incident,” urging officials to remove details about the
reprimand from the cop’s record.

After Chief Bailey was sent the report last week, on Tuesday he
said Haynes would be fully cleared.

“Following the recommendation of the Seattle City Attorney’s
Office, Seattle Police Chief Harry Bailey has cleared an SPD
officer in a 2010 misconduct case, in which the officer was
involved in an off-duty altercation outside a Ballard bar,”
the city said in a statement this week.

“I’m glad to see that the city attorney’s office had an ah-ha
moment and realized, and in fact agreed with, what we’ve said all
along, that Officer Haynes was the victim of a racially motivated
beatdown,” Seattle Police Officers Guild President Ron Smith
told KOMO News this week.

Others, however, have a difference of opinion.

"I think there are significant questions where an officer is
claiming a concussion caused him to be confused and lack the
ability to control his actions when he's stomping on the head of
a hand-cuffed suspect he's upset with," Seattle lawyer Tim
Leary told KOMO. "I think there are significant questions
where an officer is claiming a concussion caused him to be
confused and lack the ability to control his actions when he's
stomping on the head of a hand-cuffed suspect he's upset
with.”

Ed Murray, the mayor of Seattle, added that he would not
challenge the decision, but would review departmental policy.

"We have a complaint process, an appeals process, and a
punishment process that is broken," Murray told reporters.

Late last month, more than 125 SPD officers filed a lawsuit in
federal court against the United States Justice Department and
city officials, the Times reported, in which the cops complained that
new rules that prohibit the police from using as much force as
previously allowed was endangering the safety of law enforcement
personnel.

“The [use of force’ policies and practices unreasonably
restrict and burden plaintiffs right to use force reasonably
required, to protect themselves and others, from apparent harm
and danger in violation of the Second, Fourth, Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution,” it reads in
part.

“The new UF policies and practices require — without
appropriate consideration of an officer’s knowledge, training,
experience, or the apparent danger of the circumstances
confronting him or her — that Plaintiffs use significantly less
force than is being threatened against them by suspects.”